Focus Sur Cette Terre - Les 18 Fugitives d’Amer Shomali

2023-06-18T14:00:00Z

Cinéma Le Gyptis, 136 Rue Loubon, 13003 Marseille, France

Focus On This Land This year, the festival follows the trail of the seeds, the plant gatherers, and probes in images and sounds the environmental and climatic impacts of colonization. This new edition of the FCP underlines the interweaving of ecological issues and the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. The films that make up the thread of our program criticize the way "scientific expertise" is used by the occupation to justify the grabbing and destruction of land. The Wanted 18 by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan Palestine | 2014 | 1h15 | Documentary Through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews, The Wanted 18 recreates an astonishing true story: the Israeli army's pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared "a threat to the national security of the state of Israel." In response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, a group of people from the town of Beit Sahour decide to buy 18 cows and produce their own milk as a co-operative. Their venture is so successful that the collective farm becomes a landmark, and the cows local celebrities- until the Israeli army takes note and declares that the farm is an illegal security threat. Consequently, the dairy is forced to go underground, the cows continuing to produce their "Intifada milk" with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit. Recreating the story of the "wanted 18" from the perspectives of the Beit Sahour activists, Israeli military officials, and the cows, Palestinian artist Amer Shomali and veteran Canadian director Paul Cowan create an enchanting, inspirational tribute to the ingenuity and power of grassroots activism.